CHAPTER XVII.

1. On the nature of fire it says in revelation, that fire is produced of five kinds, namely, the fire Berezi-savang 2, the fire which shoots up before Aûharmazd the lord; the fire Vohu-fryãn 3, the fire which is in the bodies of men and animals; the fire Urvâzist 4, the fire which is in plants; the fire

[paragraph continues] Vâzist 1, the fire which is in a cloud which stands opposed to Spêngargâk in conflict; the fire Spênist 2, the fire which they keep in use in the world, likewise the fire of Vâhrâm 3. 2. Of those five fires one consumes both water and food, as that which is in the bodies of men; one consumes water and consumes no food, as that which is in plants, which live and grow through water; one consumes food and consumes no water, as that which they keep in use in the world, and likewise the fire of Vâhrâm; one consumes no water and no food, as the fire Vâzist. 3. The Berezi-savang is that in the earth and mountains and other things, which 4 Aûharmazd created, in the original creation, like three breathing souls (nismô); through the watchfulness and protection due to them the world ever develops (vakhshêd).

4. And in the reign of Takhmôrup 5, when men continually passed, on the back of the ox Sarsaok 6, from Khvanîras to the other regions, one night

amid the sea the wind rushed upon 1 the fireplacethe fireplace in which the fire was, such as was provided in three places on the back of the oxwhich the wind dropped with the fire into the sea; and all those three fires, like three breathing souls, continually shot up in the place and position of the fire on the back of the ox, so that it becomes quite light, and the men pass again through the sea. 5. And in the reign of Yim 2 every duty was performed more fully through the assistance of all those three fires; and the fire Frôbak 3 was established by him at the appointed place (dâd-gâs) on the Gadman-hômand ('glorious') mountain in Khvârizem 4, which Yim constructed for them; and the glory of Yim saves the fire Frôbak from the hand of Dahâk 5. 6. In the reign of King Vistâsp, upon revelation from the religion 6, it was established, out of Khvârizem, at the Rôshan ('shining') mountain in Kâvulistân, the country of Kâvul (Kâbul), just as it remains there even now.

7. The fire Gûsasp, until the reign of Kaî-Khûsrôb 7 continually afforded the world protection in the manner aforesaid 8; and when Kaî-Khûsrôb 7 was

extirpating the idol-temples of Lake Kêkast 1 it settled upon the mane of his horse, and drove away the darkness and gloom, and made it quite light, so that they might extirpate the idol-temples; in the same locality the fire Gûsasp was established at the appointed place on the Asnavand mountain 2.

8. The fire Bûrzîn-Mitrô, until the reign of King Vistâsp, ever assisted 3, in like manner, in the world, and continually afforded protection; and when the glorified 4 Zaratûst was introduced to produce confidence in the progress of the religion, King Vistâsp and his offspring were steadfast in the religion of God. 5, and Vistâsp established this fire at the appointed place on Mount Rêvand, where they say the Ridge of Vistâsp (pûst-i Vistâspân) is 6.

9. All those three fires are the whole body of the fire of Vâhrâm, together with the fire of the world, and those breathing souls are lodged in them; a counterpart of the body of man when it forms in the womb of the mother, and a soul from the spirit-world settles within it, which controls the body while living; when that body dies, the body mingles with the earth, and the soul goes back to the spirit.

Footnotes

61:2 These Avesta names of the five kinds of fire are enumerated in Yas. XVII, 63-67, and the Pahlavi translation of that passage interchanges the attributes ascribed to the first and fifth in the text, thus it calls the first 'the fire of sublime benefit in connection with Varahrân (Bahrâm).' See also Selections of Zâd-sparam, XI, 1.

61:3 'The fire of the good diffuser (or offerer), that within the bodies of men' (Pahl. Yas. XVII, 64).

62:4 M6 has min, instead of mûn, which alters the translation, but not the meaning. This appears to be a different account of the fire Berezi-savang to that given in § 1, but it merely implies that it is fire in its spiritual state, and the name can, therefore, be applied to any natural fire which can be attributed to supernatural agency, such as burning springs of petroleum, volcanic eruptions, ignis fatuus, phosphorescence of the sea, &c.

63:4 The Av. Hvâirizem of Mihir Yt. 14, a province east of the Caspian.

63:5 It is doubtful whether va gadman, 'and the glory,' or nismô, 'the soul, reason' (see Chaps. XXIII, 1, XXXIV, 4), should be read. And it may even be that 'the fire Frôbak saves the soul of Yim,' &c. For Dahâk see Chaps. XXXI, 6, XXXIV, 5.